Immunization Record Translation for USCIS (2026 Guide)

If you are adjusting status in the United States, your vaccination history is part of the medical examination — and if your record is not in English, it needs a certified translation before it can be used. This is one of the easiest documents to get wrong, because applicants routinely translate only the cover page, or assume the translation itself proves they are up to date. It does neither. A translation renders your record into English; it is the civil surgeon, not the translator, who decides what that record means for your case.

Why USCIS needs your vaccination record in English

Adjustment of status applicants generally undergo a medical examination by a USCIS-designated civil surgeon, who completes Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record. The civil surgeon works from your vaccination history: the record you bring, in whatever language it was issued.

If that record is in Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, or any other non-English language, the civil surgeon and the adjudicating officer need to be able to read it. That is where a certified translation comes in. The rule is the same one that governs every foreign-language document submitted to USCIS (8 CFR § 103.2(b)(3)): a complete English translation, plus a signed statement from the translator certifying that they are competent to translate and that the translation is complete and accurate.

One clarification that matters: “certified translation” here means the translator’s signed certificate of accuracy. USCIS does not accredit or license translators, and no translation service holds a “USCIS certification.” Any provider claiming otherwise is misrepresenting the requirement.

Which record do you translate?

Translate the actual vaccination record issued by the health authority, clinic, or school that administered the vaccines — the complete booklet or card, not a summary, a school admission form that merely lists “vaccinations complete,” or a parent’s handwritten recollection.

Common examples:

• China: the 预防接种证 (vaccination/immunization booklet), usually a small green booklet recording each dose, its date, and the administering clinic’s stamp.
• Other countries: a national immunization card, a clinic-issued vaccination booklet, or a health-authority printout of the vaccination history.

The rule: translate the record that lists individual vaccines and dates. A document that states only that you were “fully vaccinated” — without naming the vaccines or their dates — gives the civil surgeon nothing to work from, and translating it will not fix that gap. If your original record is lost, obtain a reissued record or an official printout from the issuing clinic or health authority first; a translator cannot reconstruct doses that are not in the source document.

What the translation is — and what it is not

This distinction prevents most misunderstandings:

The translation does:

• Render every vaccine name, date, clinic name, stamp, seal, and handwritten entry into English, in full.
• Preserve the record exactly as issued, including entries that look incomplete or inconsistent.

The translation does not:

• Fill in missing doses, correct dates, or “update” your record.
• Convert a foreign vaccine product name into a US brand name. The translator renders the name as written; where a name is ambiguous, a translator’s note flags it rather than substituting a different product.
• Complete Form I-693 or decide whether you need additional vaccinations. That is the civil surgeon’s determination, based on the translated record and current requirements.
• Serve as proof of immunity on its own. It is evidence of what was recorded, not a medical opinion.

If a dose is missing from your record, the civil surgeon — not the translator — will tell you what happens next.

What “complete” means for a vaccination booklet

Vaccination booklets are dense, repetitive documents, and “complete” does specific work here:

1. Every page with an entry. Translate all pages that contain vaccine entries, dates, or clinic stamps — not just the cover and the first page. Untranslated later pages are the single most common defect in these translations, and they look like selective disclosure to an officer.
2. The identifying page. The cover or first page usually carries your name, date of birth, and the booklet number. That page anchors the record to you; it must be translated and its name must match your passport and the rest of your filing exactly.
3. Vaccine names and dates character-for-character. Dose dates, batch or lot numbers where recorded, and clinic names are transcribed exactly. Date-format ambiguity matters here as elsewhere: a compliant translation writes the month out or otherwise removes any doubt about whether 05/06/2021 is May 6 or June 5.
4. Stamps, seals, and signatures. Clinic stamps, health-authority seals, and the administering clinician’s signature block are rendered or described in brackets (e.g., “[Round seal: XX Disease Control Center]”).
5. Handwritten entries. Dose dates and clinic notes in vaccination booklets are often handwritten. If handwriting is illegible, the translator marks “[illegible]” rather than guessing — a guessed date in a medical record is worse than a flagged one.

Four pitfalls that generate RFEs and extra medical visits

1. Translating only the pages that look favorable. Submitting a partial booklet — the cover and the childhood pages, say, while leaving out later pages — invites a Request for Evidence for the complete record. Translate the whole record as issued.
2. Submitting a translated summary instead of the record. A letter from a clinic stating “the patient is fully vaccinated” is not a substitute for the dose-by-dose record, and translating that letter does not cure the gap.
3. Name mismatches. The name on the vaccination booklet must match your passport and filing. Childhood booklets sometimes carry a birth name, a nickname, or a different transliteration. Those differences need a translator’s note, not a silent correction.
4. Treating the translation as the medical exam. Applicants sometimes arrive at the civil surgeon with only a translation and no plan for the examination itself. Bring the original record, the translation, and your other medical records to the appointment; the civil surgeon completes I-693 and determines whether any vaccinations are still required.

Certified vs. notarized — which do you need?

USCIS requires the translator’s signed certification statement. It does not require notarization of the translation itself. If a consulate, school, or employer asks for a notarized translation, that is a separate requirement — confirm which one applies before paying for both. Every Lumorbis translation ships with a signed certificate of accuracy carrying an online-verifiable certificate number.

Turnaround and cost

An immunization booklet translated as a whole book is priced at $39.95 on the Lumorbis pricing page. Because booklets vary in length, confirm current turnaround when you order; standard 1–2 page documents are normally completed within 24 hours at no surcharge. If you are responding to an RFE with a deadline, order the translation of the complete booklet — not just the pages the RFE quotes — and tell the provider the deadline up front.

Related guides: Birth Certificate Translation for USCIS · Police Clearance Certificate Translation for USCIS · Divorce Certificate Translation for USCIS

FAQ

Need a certified immunization record translation? Lumorbis LLC provides USCIS-compliant certified translations in 21 languages, each with a signed certificate of accuracy and an online-verifiable certificate number. Order a translation, see pricing, or verify a certificate.